City of Asheville’s Sustainable Advisory Committee on Energy and the Environment (SACEE) passes resolution

August 17th, 2018

By Deborah

The City of Asheville’s Sustainable Advisory Committee on Energy and the Environment (SACEE), which develops and recommends policy concerning sustainability to City Council, just yesterday passed a resolution calling on the City to transition its municipal operations to 100% renewable energy by 2030. This is one more step in Asheville’s transition to a clean energy future!

SACEE is recommending that City Council adopt this resolution, but before it can be voted on by City Council, it will go to the Planning and Economic Development Committee to consider the financial implications of making this energy transition. The committee consists of Council Member and MountainTrue Co-Director Julie Mayfield and Council Members Gwen Wisler and Vijay Kapoor. We know Julie supports the resolution, so we need to reach out to the other members to ask for their support.

Today, we hope you’ll act in two ways:

Contact members of SACEE to thank them for their visionary commitment to a clean energy future.

Contact Council Members Wisler and Kapoor and ask them to recommend this resolution be approved by Council. As the costs of transitioning to renewable energy continue to decrease and clean energy creates economic benefits for communities all across the nation, we know it is both possible and economically beneficial to meet this goal.

Dear Council Members,I’m writing today to urge you to recommend that Asheville City Council adopts SACEE’s resolution calling for municipal city operations to transition to 100% renewable energy by 2030.

As tracked by the Sierra Club’s Ready for 100 campaign, across the U.S. over 70 cities, more than five counties, and one state have already adopted ambitious 100% clean energy goals. Five cities in the U.S. – Aspen CO, Burlington, VT, Greensburg, KS, Rock Port, MO, and Kodiak Island, AK – have already hit their targets. The goal proposed in SACEE’s resolution is also consistent with clean energy goals that Buncombe County has already committed to.

As the costs of transitioning to renewable energy continue to decrease and clean energy creates economic benefits for communities all across the nation, we know it is both possible and economically beneficial to meet this goal and to join our nation’s cities that are leaders in sustainability.